Defender
by lilacflower2
Summary: In episode 36 you'll remember the little story about ten year old Ryou, right? Well, I decided to make a one shot about the possibility of maybe there was one person at the school who helped him out. So just check it out, please? It'll take maybe five minutes ;)


**Hey guys! This is my one shot! If I get five+ reviews though, I'll make a bonus chapter ;)**

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I finally arrived! I was so excited to start my schooling in japan. I'd been saving up for four years to be able to go to college all the way over here and I finally got enough!

"Mimi-chan!" my best friend yelled when I stepped outside after grabbing my bags. Naturally, I dropped my bag and embraced her into the tightest hug _ever_. She had moved away to Japan with her family when she was sixteen, so we didn't get to see each other too often.

"It's so good to see you, too, Karen-san!"

"Come on! My mom has a hot meal ready for you!" I nodded and turned to grab my bags again, only to see a blond boy picking them up.

"Oh, excuse me. Those are mine."

"I figured. I just thought I'd be a gentleman and hand them to you." He sounded a bit annoyed that I thought he was stealing them. I guess I would be, too, though…

"G-gomen. I just heard there was a lot of crime troubles."

"Oh, you were here before?"

"No, but I have several friends who moved here a while ago and they talked to me about it, but I didn't care. I came here anyways for schooling."

"Cool, what school?"

"The local graphic design college. I just love art."

"Heh, you sound a lot like a friend of mine. Well, hopefully I'll see you around."

"Hai, definitely!" With that, we parted. Whether I knew it or not, though, we thought the same thing. _How did I know that person?_

xxx

The next day, we decided to just go around and look at shops and things. Around noon, we did _more _catching up around a nearby park. It was so nice to have the sun shining on my face in my favorite country once again.

"Oi…so many memories, hai?" I said.

"Hai. Heh, we were so funny when we were fifteen!"

"Please, we're still funny!" For some reason, we began laughing hysterically again.

"Hey, remember that jerk who liked to hang out around the fields?" I asked.

"Oh don't _even_ remind me. To think, he even picked on that poor little guy!"

"I know! It was so awful! I have to wonder though…what happened to the two of them?"

"I don't know…I here that jerk went to jail for practically beating a guy to death, but the little guy, I don't know. He just…left one day. I hear his house got caught on fire while his parents were inside and they burned to death, leaving the kid an orphan, but past that is a mystery."

"Oh my gosh! The poor little guy!"

"I know. I felt really bad about it…But hey, you shouldn't feel nearly as bad. At least you talked to him and hung out with him.

"Please, if anything, I feel worse! I mean, I was the only person at school he had and with only a one day warning I left! I felt like such a…a…"

"Bitch?"

"That word works, but you know I don't swear."

"Yeah, but I do."

"I suppose…long as you don't find a way to make the f-bomb used in every way possible…or at all. America was so dumb like that."

"That is dumb. Don't worry, I won't do that."

"Good. Now c'mon. I haven't been to a good tea-shop in…EVER."

"Understood. Don't worry, the best café around is just around the corner."

"Cool. What's it called?"

"Café Mew Mew."

xxx

"Welcome to Café Mew Mew! Let me take you to your table." a bleach blond-haired girl said. She couldn't be more than 12. I couldn't help but feel a ping of sadness since I had to wonder why she had to work here.

"I'll be back to take your order in just a moment!" she said before going and serving other customers.

"Ichigo! Ichi….gah…where is that girl?" a familiar voice yelled. I turned to see the one and only…guy from the airport!

"Hey, you're that guy from yesterday!" I said a bit too happily. A smile appeared on his face when he saw me and walked over.

"Yo, good to see you again. By the way, we never exactly gave each other our names."

"Oi, we didn't did we? I'm Marilyn, but I go by Mimi."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ryou Shirogane."

"Pleasure to meet you, too. This is Karen." I said as I pointed over to her. However, she was too lost in thought to say anything. "G-gomen. She doesn't really do this a lot, I swear. In fact, I kind of wish she'd think a bit more…" This got a laugh from the two of us, and Karen was brought back to Earth.

"Did I miss something?"

"No." he and I replied. She gave us suspicious glanced, but quickly shook it off.

"So what were you thinking about? It's not often you space out, from what I remember that is."

"His name sounds familiar, that's all." suddenly, her phone beeped. Checked it and winced.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's fine. I just need to go home. Don't worry, though, you can stay and eat cake and drink tea. I'll be back in a little while."

"Alright. Bye-bye." I was a bit disappointed. I was looking forward to drinking tea with a friend. She gave a small wave before leaving just second before a pink-haired girl arrived.

"G-g-gomen-isi!" she huffed out. She was in a white and red girl's high school uniform and had the first year pin on. She looked adorable and I think Ryou thought so too by his staring. I couldn't help but smirk a bit as she skipped over to Ryou. "Gomen. I ran all the way here right after school and I was still late." She talked to herself saying, "Why did I pick such a far school?" Once again, I looked up to Ryou, who now had glazed-over eyes. I suppressed the urge to laugh so hard I fell on floor into a chuckle. To be nice, though, I decided to save his butt.

"Yo, I'm Marilyn, or Mimi."

"Heh? Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Ichigo Momomiya." She gave me a small bow which I gladly returned. "Well, I need to get into my work clothes. Hope to see you again here!" I nodded and let her go. Once she was in the back room, I lightly-ish punched Ryou's shoulder.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"I Just saved your butt and I don't even get a simple thank you?"

"Hai, hai. Arigato." I nodded and gave a victory smile.

"So, how long?"

"Hm?"

"Thick-head! You obviously have a crush on the chick! How long have you liked her?" His grew into saucers as he just stared at me in disbelief.

"Is it that obvious?" I nodded to tell him it was pretty pathetic. "Okay, I may have liked her for about two and a half years…"

"Aw! How cute~!"

"Yeah, but she's a couple years younger _and_ has a boyfriend…not to mention the whole 'boss and employee' thing…"

"Oh yeah, that's never good."

"Exactly. Oi, and just when I thought I was getting over her…Heh, if I just met her again…"

"Met who?"

"Oh, back when I lived in America a few years ago I went to an elementary through high school, and when I was in fifth grade, there were these four idiots who'd always beat me up for no reason. Although there was one girl…She was different from the rest of the school. She didn't care about age or gender or anything; if she wanted to be your friend, you became her friend. There wasn't really a choice in the matter. She was also the only person who ever stood up for me…"

"Hey, is that the girl you were thinking of when you said, 'Sounds like a friend of mine'?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"Oh, that's just exactly how I was when I went to the same type school." Click. Both his and mine eyes widened.

"That was you!"


End file.
